'Murdoch dead' message delivered as LulzSec hacks Sun

News International pulled down the main Times and Sun websites yesterday after a fake ‘Murdoch dead’ news story was been placed on the Sun website after a hack by Lulz Security.

The newspaper’s proprietor is due to appear before a House of Commons committee today, after the site was hacked by Lulz Security, which used Twitter to claim responsibility for the attack.

The spoof story claimed that Rupert Murdoch had been found dead in his garden. Readers clicking on the hoax story on thesun.co.uk were redirected new-times.co.uk, where the story was placed, headlined ‘Media mogul’s body discovered’.

The spoof story claimed Murdoch had taken palladium, a radioactive substance, before dying in his garden.

The Lulzsec hackers’ message warned Murdoch, “This is only the beginning”, and claimed to have a pile of News International emails that they would release.